Literacy planning: family language policy in Chinese kindergartener families

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper reports a study that used a quantitative method to explore literacy planning in Chinese kindergartener families as well as the influences of socioeconomic status (SES) on it. The conceptual framework of family language policy (FLP), which consists of three components–language ideology, language management, and language practice, was adopted to examine literacy planning. The SES factors investigated included mother’s education, mother’s occupation, father’s education, father’s occupation, and household income. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey of 664 kindergartener families from 10 kindergartens in a Chinese city. Descriptive statistics revealed reasonable language ideology and practice but relatively weak language management in Chinese kindergartener families. Structural equation modelling corroborated the relationships between language ideology, language management, and language practice hypothesised in the FLP theory. It also indicated that only mother’s education significantly predicted the literacy planning of a family. Implications for early intervention for children’s language development were discussed.